Welcome to the Addiction


Welcome to the addiction. I heard that at my first track day as we were wrapping up the last session and I embraced the words, rolled around in them a bit, and determined that yes, this is good.

And expensive.

I'm thinking this year's season is over as the leaves start to turn, and like most things in my life, I have some summary data in order to budget for next year, which is likely to be more expensive because I'll likely try to go every chance I get. Also, a friend reminded me last Sunday that they do track days in Vegas, California, and Florida year round, so there's that.

Here's a summary of this year's spend for all things track related:

Expense

Cost

Notes

Consumables/Travel

 

 

California Superbike School (CSS)

$5500

Two days at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, two days at VIR

Airfare

$350

Back when flights were cheap and we were still wearing masks on planes

Track Days

$1140

6 days with Evolve GT averaging around $190 each

Tires

$600

First set of Pirelli Supercorsa SPs lasted 3,500 miles and 4 track days

Gear

$80

I had everything I needed to get going except a pair of gauntlet-type gloves. I also borrowed an Alpinestars suit from a buddy, so that’ll be a 2023 expense

Hotel/Lodging

$750

Motel 6 near LVMS, Apache on Fremont St. (woo-hoo!), and AirBnB at VIR

Gas (car)

$117

Mazda 6 towing a trailer gets about 26 MPG

Gas (MC)

$113

The Triumph slurps down about 4 gallons of premium per day on track

Consumable/Travel Subtotal

$8,650

 

One-Time Costs

 

 

Trailer

$3600

Kendon trailer that’s perfectly suited for hauling around my Daytona or a couple of dirt bikes

Tie-Downs

$100

Heavy duty ratchet straps. Haven’t lost the bike yet, so worth it!

Mirror blanks and subframe hook mounts

$110

Keeps the front fairing together w/the mirrors removed and makes strapping the rear of the bike to the trailer a snap

One-Time Subtotal

$3,800

 

Grand Total

$12,450

 

Oy vey! I probably shouldn't have done that. 

However, those numbers feel pretty realistic because if not attending CSS, I might upgrade my suit or do several East Coast track days. Helmets need to be replaced every five years at the track orgs I run in, so that needs to be factored in, too. I'm not including the boring stuff like oil changes, chain cleaner, and routine service since these are basically sunk costs, track or no-track.

I saved money everywhere I could- I borrowed camping gear and brought basic groceries from home. Unlike a Ford F250, I manage to get pretty good gas mileage lugging a trailer. Ironically, I got the same gas mileage hauling 3 road bicycles to an event on a hitch-mounted Thule, basically dropping from 37mpg unladen to 26mpg towing.

For what it's worth, this can certainly be done more cheaply, such as running an SV650 on Michelin 5s, camping at every track, and renting that great U-Haul motorcycle trailer for only twenty bucks a day(!). Also, unless a crash is involved, high quality motorcycle gear lasts a really long time. I literally have every glove and piece of leather or textile gear since I started motorcycling and most of it's still in great shape. If something gets too tatty I'll throw it away, but other than my old tail bag for my Ducati and some cheap-o rain gear, that simply hasn't happened yet.

Of course, there's the flipside- bike upgrades, amazing 360-degree cameras, GPS lap timers, more CSS sessions (bring my own bike next time!), fancier SUV/trailer, and on and on and on. The folks at Revzilla, Sportbike Track Gear, your local dealer, and FB Marketplace/Craigslist provide an inexhaustible source of daydreams and enhancements to your time on track.

Welcome to the addiction, indeed!



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